Weekly investor roundup Jan 3: Investing in 2022 a challenge, Calpers CIO says; Kopi Kenangan reaches unicorn status
TOP NEWS OF THE WEEK:
The chief investment officer of the second-largest US public pension fund said investing in 2022 is going to be challenging. The S&P 500 probably won’t come anywhere close to matching the 27% advance it clocked in the past 12 months, said Chris Ailman of California State Teachers’ Retirement System.
“Historically, I’d expect a very low single-digit year.” Returns typically lag after a few boom years, and the likelihood of a US recession increases if rising inflation spurs the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy, Ailman said.
Diversifying portfolios is difficult because of low bond yields and uncertainty in real estate, with office buildings and malls lacking tenants, he said.
Source: Bloomberg
Indonesia-based Kopi Kenangan has reached unicorn status after its latest Series C funding round of $96 million that brought its valuation above $1 billion.
The round was led by Tybourne Capital Management, and included other funds such as Falcon Edge Capital, Kunlun, B Capital, and Li Ka Shing’s Horizons Ventures.
The firm’s valuation has more than doubled from its last Series B funding, which was led by Sequoia Capital India and valued the company at $405 million. Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, Singapore-based Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital, Horizons Ventures and Alpha JWC also participated.
Source: Straits Times, AFN
Korean pension funds offload nearly 11 trillion won ($9.2 billion) in Samsung Electronics shares, while raising holdings in Krafton, Samsung Biologics and Kakao Pay shares in 2021.
According to the Korea Exchange, pension funds including the National Pension Service up to Dec 27 net sold 24 trillion won ($20 billion) worth of shares on the main Kospi bourse, of which nearly half, or 10.9 trillion won went to Samsung Electronics.
Source: Pulse
Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) is asking law firms to bid on a mandate to provide legal advisory services for its alternative investments. GPIF will choose one firm for a three-year term from April 2022 to March 2025, it says in a request for proposal on Dec 21.
Applicants must have at least 10 years of experience providing investment legal services in Japan or abroad. Applications are open until Jan 28.
Source: GPIF
MORE INVESTMENT NEWS:
AUSTRALIA
Future Super has acquired Aon Solutions, the investment consulting and administration arm of consultancy Aon.
Future Super said the acquisition puts it on track to reach $10 billion in funds under administration, management, and advice in 2022 and $30 billion by 2030. The acquisition is due to complete in February 2022.
Close to 50 employees will transfer to Future Super as part of the transaction, doubling the size of the fund's team.
Source: Financial Standard
CHINA
Crisis-hit Chinese real estate giant Evergrande has suspended trade in its shares in Hong Kong as investors await news on its restructuring plan.
The statement to the stock exchange did not give a reason for the trading halt.
Evergrande has more than $300 billion (£222 billion) of debt and is scrambling to raise cash by selling assets and shares to repay suppliers and creditors. Last week, the company dialled back plans to repay investors in its wealth management products.
Source: BBC
HONG KONG
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) announced jointly with the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges that they have reached an agreement to include eligible ETFs in the stock connect scheme.
“The inclusion of ETFs will provide investors with more options by broadening the existing connect product ecosystem as well as support the continued development of both markets,” said the HKEX in a statement.
The agreement reflects the commitment by HKEX and its mainland partners to continue expanding and enhancing the mutual market access programme between the capital markets of mainland China and Hong Kong, the statement adds.
Separately, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Singapore Exchange have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish an ETF product link for eligible fund managers to offer ETFs to investors in each other’s markets.
Source: Funds Selector Asia; HKEX
JAPAN
Allianz Real Estate and Ivanhoé Cambridge have established a $2 billion investment platform to invest in multi-family residential assets across top-tier cities in Japan.
The platform, Allianz Real Estate Asia-Pacific Japan Multi-Family Fund I, is a Singapore-domiciled, closed-end fund. Allianz Real Estate will serve as the Investment Manager and General Partner of the platform.
The strategy is to acquire primarily newly completed, well-located assets in Japan’s four major cities, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka, and lease up and stabilise the assets for the long term.
Source: Allianz Real Estate
SINGAPORE
European asset manager Tikehau Capital, alongside Financiere Agache, the family office of LVMH chair Bernard Arnault, has received approval from the Singapore exchange (SGX) to list its special purpose acquisition company (Spac).
The black check firm will be called Pegasus Asia and marks the city-state’s second approved company after Temasek’s Vertex Venture Holdings.
Tikehau had previously raised EU210 million ($238 million) for a Spac named Pegasus Entrepreneurs in Europe.
Source: Bloomberg